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A Daring Approach in Bridging God and Darwin by Francis S. Collins in the Language Of Vidyankur: Journal of Philosophical and Theological Studies XXIII/1 Jan 2021 | ISSN P-2320-9429 | 17-28 https://www.vidyankur.in | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4718209 Stable URL: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4718209 A Daring Approach in Bridging God and Darwin by Francis S. Collins in The Language of God Henry Jose Research Scholar in Science and Religion, Jnana Deepa, Pune 411014 Abstract: Francis Collins, in his book The Language of God bravely addresses the issues of conflict between scientific observations and religious claims. As a dedicated Christian, who had faced challenges to his Christian faith, he emerges as a strong advocate for the creation of the universe by a personal God. Collins echoes the common understanding that the Moral Law, along with the development of language, awareness of self, and the ability to imagine the future makes us, human beings stand unique as the pinnacle of God’s creation created in His own image. The purpose of this review is to analyse if Collins had succeeded in his endeavour of bringing a harmonization between science and faith. Though Collins makes a genuine effort in synthesizing many conflicting issues, he falls short in providing a convincing theory that would eventually harmonize science and faith. Keywords: Harmonizing science and faith, Theistic Evolution (BioLogos), Darwin’s Origin of Species, Moral Law, Big Bang. Cite as: Jose, Henry. (2021). A Daring Approach in Bridging God and Darwin by Francis S. Collins in the Language of God. (Version 1.0) Vidyankur: Journal of Philosophical and Theological Studies. Jan-June 2021 XXIII/1 www.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo. 4718209 17-28. Vidyankur XXIII/1 Jaury-June 2021 17 Introduction Francis S. Collins, Director of the Human Genome Project, a physician, geneticist, evolutionist, humanitarian, and as witnessed in his The Language of God is a commanding opponent of intelligent design theory. Collins is also a staunch born-again Christian. His most recent work is the act of bringing together in the public’s eye, a harmony between William Paley and Charles Darwin; a scholarly effort to bring about harmonization between faith and science. Collins’ work is an outstanding deconstruction of intelligent design theory and also a reverent version of evolution as the expression of God’s plan. The Language of God is, therefore, the latest account on “theistic evolution.” In the next section, we would find Collins confirming the evidence for Evolution and supporting Darwinian Theory to a certain extent. Proof of Evolution The book deals with “creation science,” or “intelligent design.” It includes a clear, honest summary of the latest evidence for evolution, which also includes human evolution, exactly as mainstream scientific study provides it. These chapters are filled with fascinating charts and simple diagrams that confirm origin with modification. For instance, there is a chart that reveals the probability of finding a similar DNA sequence in the genome of other organisms in connection with the human DNA. The statistics are fascinating, especially if one starts with a randomly chosen, non-coding stretch of human DNA. In Chimpanzee DNA, the probability of a match is 98 per cent. 52 per cent with a dog, 40 per cent with rat, 4 per cent with chicken, and zero with the roundworm. One can never find a more convincing demonstration of relatedness and 18 H. Jose: Collins-Language of God origin than this. According to Collins, such data make sense only in light of evolution (Collins, 2006: 127). Collins, in the second half of his The evidence of God is book, reconciles science and faith present in our longing by exploring three options; to do the right thing. atheism/agnosticism, Intelligent Design, and theistic evolution (BioLogos). The primary argument of Collins in the chapter on atheism and agnosticism is against the claim of Richard Dawkins that a study of evolution and natural origins inherently leads one to atheism. He is against the idea that methodological naturalism necessitates philosophical naturalism. Collins gives a reasonable conclusion that it would be impossible to gain insight into the natural and the supernatural if they inhabit separate realms (Collins, 2006: 6). The powerful tool that Collins uses as a defence against Darwinian Evolutionary Theory is the universal law of Morality; the sense of right and wrong. Moral Law: The Cornerstone of The Language of God This distinguished scientist is an admirer and student of C. S. Lewis, the remarkable Oxford literary professor, essayist, and novelist who dedicated the latter part of his life to Christianity. Lewis was looked upon as one of the most talented of the 20th- century Christian apologists and as a brilliant writer. But he made no outstanding impression on theology or philosophy. The view that human life differs from animals in its universal moral law; the sense of right and wrong and an altruistic tendency towards all life forms is an idea that Collins borrows heavily from C. S. Lewis. For him, it is an impossibility to find an explanation from an evolutionary perspective as he explains that it must have been programmed by God. Other arguments Vidyankur XXIII/1 Jaury-June 2021 19 are minor in comparison. According to him, moral law is beyond biology and history. Though the author is well aware of disciplines such as evolutionary psychology, which mainly deals with altruism, a tendency or virtue not just present in human beings, he merely brushes them aside as “sociobiology.” The evidence of God is present in our longing to do the right thing. If a multitude of believers are convinced that God wants them to annihilate their fellow humans, that’s just their fault. Human behaviour has evolved, similar in the case of animal behaviour; but Collins makes an exception with morality (Collins, 2006: 200-201). Morality becomes his powerful tool to engage in battle against the Intelligent Design Theory of Darwin and his followers. Intelligent Design Debate Collins in his historically significant work on the Human Genome Project has mapped the genetic language, DNA, in which he is certain that God directs his living creation. The concept of genetic information is impressively taught to the lay public by the author. The proof for Darwin’s understanding of the evolutionary mechanism, Collins explains, may be observed in strange, nonfunctioning features of the genetic code. According to Darwin’s theory, there was no transcendent intelligence to guide this mechanism, which raises the question among believers, of what need was there of a God to command his creation. Obviously, this burns down to the Intelligent Design debate. For Darwin, an unguided and purely material mechanism of natural selection was advocated, which operated on random genetic variation. According to Intelligent Design, there is no positive evidence that this mechanism was guided. To summarize, the coding or the 20 H. Jose: Collins-Language of God software in the DNA just happened on its own (Collins, 2006: 100-107). Argument from Personal Incredulity Collins rejects the argument of Intelligent Design as an Collins rejects the “argument from personal argument of Intelligent incredulity.” According to him, it Design as an is difficult to comprehend how “argument from such a mechanism, as personal incredulity.” propounded by Darwin could have produced certain aspects of biological information. This calls forth for an accomplished Designer to have done it. Some argue that Collins has misrepresented Intelligent Design, and it appears that he has not followed the latest scientific trends on the subject. A common misconception among the general public is that Darwin’s theory does not deny God as the creator. Evolution was programmed, just like a clock by the clockmaker which negates the idea of being guided all along. The problem with such thinking is that it comes into conflict with the mainstream Darwinian Theory. Collins cleverly moves away from this approach of proving God’s guidance in his creation. His focus shifts from the external to the internal; the presence of love in our hearts. This view is akin to the view of the famous philosopher Immanuel Kant, whose popular phrase is that he is filled with awe and wonder “the longer and more earnestly I reflect on them: the starry heavens without and the Moral Law within” (Goodreads, 2018). But this places Collins in the exact same situation which he rejects while arguing about the “Intelligent Design,” which is the “argument from personal incredulity” (Collins, 2006: 186). Vidyankur XXIII/1 Jaury-June 2021 21 Collins’ take on “Moral Law” could be weighed on the same scales. The demonstration of God’s being and caring; his favourite objection against “argument from personal incredulity” suffers under its own weight. For him, the source of ethics, charity, and altruistic attitude can come only from God. The DNA sequence is inadequate to offer explanations to the human characteristics, such as the knowledge of the Moral Law and the Universal search for God. According to the Darwinian Evolutionary Theory, particularly in The Descent of Man, Darwin propounded evolutionary progress to altruism. Collins’ finds satisfaction in his clever way of bridging Darwin’s evolutionary process with the Christian belief by stating that God is beyond the confines of time. Therefore, the unpredictability of evolution is, in fact, predictable from the perspective of God. Collins’ Questions to his Readers At the end of the book, Collins addresses specific questions to readers who are theists and atheists. He formulates five questions as to why their acceptance is difficult: 1. If the hypocritical behaviour of those who profess belief turned one down? (Collins, 2006: 231) 2. If philosophical questions such as the problem of evil are a hindrance to one’s faith? (Collins, 2006: 231) 3. Is it due to the lack of answers owing to the insufficiency of scientific tools that could explain the mystery of existence? (Collins, 2006: 232) 22 H.
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